 Tuesday will be a day of mixed emotions for prominent Victorian breeder Emma
Boling and her partner Graeme Little.The
action in the ring at the Australian Easter Yearling Sale in Sydney is expected to frantic
in an hour period from about 12.40pm.
Not long after 1pm, while most people would be tucking into
lunch around the country, Boling will be a bundle of nerves when her pride and joy, the
first foal of her star galloper Catnipped enters the ring for sale.
Ever since the colt was born on September 2 in 2000, Boling
and her partner Graeme Little have been by his side. There's little doubt they've probably
cared for this four legged creature more than they would have each other! The time and
dedication of the Pines Stud team will come under the microscope when Inglis & Son
offer the colt for sale as lot number 80.
Most would remember the sensational juvenile Catnipped.
Trained from Lindsay Park after being originally purchased as a yearling on the Gold
Coast, the well bred daughter of Rory's Jester was a star on the track. During her first
preparation she won the Group Two Maribyrnong Plate at Flemington while a couple of months
later she set a race record in her win in the Magic Millions at the Southport Racecourse
on the Gold Coast - just a stone's throw from where she had been sold twelve months
earler.
"It's going to be an emotional day," Boling said
this week. "He's very much like part of the family. We're very proud of him."
And why wouldn't they be proud. Not only is the colt out of
one of the best juvenile fillies seen in recent years she is in fact Rory's Jester highest
stakes earning racemare - and that is quite an honour!
Oh did I forget to tell you he was by a stallion called
Danehill. Oh yes that's right he's the sire responsible for a few handy types like
Danewin, Flying Spur, Merlene, Danzero, Ha Ha, Desert King, Dane Ripper, Viking Ruler,
Catbird, Danendri, Mozart, Nothin' Leica Dane and Camarena. This Danehill is quite a sire!
He is on track to become the Champion Australian Sire for the sixth time this season and
there's no real end in sight.
Two words spring to mind when you cast an eye over the
pedigree page of the bay colt golden slipper. He's by Danehill the sire of
Slipper winners Danzero, Merlene, Flying Spur and Catbird. He's out of the Magic Millions
winning juvenile Catnipped, who is the highest stakes earning mare of the Golden Slipper
winning Rory's Jester!
While many potential buyers tend to feel the first foal of
any mare can be a somewhat weak specimen - they better check this fellow out in the flesh.
"He is certainly not a first foal colt. He is strapping and in the past three months
he has just blossomed and he just looks so athletic now," Boling said.
As you can see Catnipped's first foal is a cracker! "He
is a strong colt and he has the real Danehill look," Boling added. "He looks
like a two-year-old, he should be a real runner."
"Catnipped still holds the race record for the Magic
Millions. She won in better time than Lovely Jubly, Testa Rossa, General Nediym and
Snippets. And her colt is a three quarter brother to Chuckle who ran a top second in the
Magic Millions earlier this year."
The colt didn't set the world on fire when he was foaled at
The Pines, a picturesque boutique stud on the Mornington Peninsula. "He wasn't overly
big when he was born but since then he's been really developing into a cracking
colt," Boling reflected.
Fans of Catnipped would be excited to know that she has just
produced a Danzero colt. "He's a similar type to the Danehill yearling," Boling
said. And the Magic Millions heroine is now in foal to the exciting Darley shuttler King's
Best. What's the chances of a return date to Coolmore's pin-up? "We might just head
back to Danehill if the colt sells well next week."
The Danehill-Catnipped colt is just one of three yearlings
which Boling and Little will be selling under the Collingrove Stud banner.
Lot 199 is also going to be a highlight lot. The bay colt is
a half brother to the brilliant former racehorse turned sire Racer's Edge. The colt, which
like the Catnipped youngster is Super VOBIS qualified, is by the former European Horse of
the Year Peintre Celebre.
"He's a really nice type," Boling said. "He's
completely different to the Catnipped yearling though. This guy is going to need a bit
more time but he's got a lovely temperament." As well as the temperament he has the
looks and the pedigree to match. He looks a Guineas type chance as a three-year-old.
The last of the trio is a "beautiful" filly by the
exciting North American juvenile sire End Sweep and out of the Shy Rambler mare Kashalyn.
That means the chestnut filly is a half sister to the four time Group One winner Juggler.
The filly is the first Boling and Little have bred from the
mare. "We puchased Kashalyn in foal to this filly," Boling said. "I really
like this filly she walks like Marilyn Monroe!"
"She is extremely athletic and is very mature and she is
a real quick learner around the farm." Like the other two yearlings the filly (lot
243) is also VOBIS qualified adding great incentive to potential Victorian buyers.
So while most of us continue our demolition of a swag of
easter eggs spare a thought for Emma Boling. Let's just hope she's willing to have a
champagne on at about 1.30 on Monday afternoon.
Little and Boling pic by Quentin Lang. |
